ABout Victoria
Praised for her “silvery-voiced…” (Seen and Heard International) and “rich-toned soprano…” (New York Classical Review), Victoria Okafor is steadily making a name for herself in the world of musical theater and opera. She recently made her NYC debut with MasterVoices in their semi-staged version of Blind Injustice at Lincoln Center as Alesha. Other highlights of the season include being named a Kurt Weill/Lotte Lenya Artist by the Kurt Weill Foundation and playing the role of Kate Mullins in The Marriott Theater’s production of Titanic.
A lover of new music, Victoria has had the opportunity to originate a number
of roles in workshops and on the stage. Roles include Alesha in Scott
Davenport Richards’ Blind Injustice, Wilhelmina in Gregory Spears’ Castor
and Patience, Nyomi in William Menefield’s Fierce, Persephone in Kevin
Day’s Lalovavi and Laura in Kevin Puts’ The Hours. She was set to do another
workshop of The Hours with The Metropolitan Opera in January of 2022 but
the workshop was canceled due to the COVID-19 Omicron outbreak.
However, Victoria was able to revisit the role of Laura again when she
covered Kelli O’Hara in the concert version of The Hours with the
Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of world renown conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin. That same year Victoria also premiered the role of
Wilhelmina in Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith’s new opera Castor and
Patience. The opera received rave reviews and media coverage from the Wall
Street Journal, NPR, Washington Post and more.
She has sung with companies all over the country such as Washington National
Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Birmingham, and
Opera Columbus. Her 2024 season included her reprising the role of Alesha in
Blind Injustice with PEAK Performances at Montclair State, a production of
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at The Carnegie and a concert with the
Cincinnati Pops as a guest artist. Victoria returned to The Carnegie with local
duo Queen City Cabaret for two cabaret concerts where she got to showcase
her mastery of the American Songbook.
In 2023 Victoria enjoyed participating in performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah
with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Così fan tutte in concert with
Newport Classical, a workshop of Robeson with Cincinnati Opera,
performances of Clorinda in La Cenerentola with Kentucky Opera, and Utah
Festival Opera’s summer season of Lohengrin, Elton John’s AIDA, and Oliver!
Victoria returned to her alma mater, Shenandoah Conservatory, to perform Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Shenandoah Symphony as well as William Grant Still’s From the Hearts of Women.
Victoria’s 2020 season would have included covering Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with Santa Fe Opera but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their summer season was canceled. However during the height of the pandemic, Victoria was a part of numerous projects, including Angela Brown’s Opera From a Sistah’s Point of View, Mozart’s Requiem with the Kentucky Symphony, and Cincinnati Opera at 100 with Cincinnati Opera. She has made several TV appearances on PBS with Cincinnati Opera at 100 and the Emmy nominated Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 as a guest artist.
She was awarded the second prize of the Lotte Lenya Competition in 2021 by renowned Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn, Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and director Victoria Clarke, and Obie Award-winning actress and singer, Mary Beth Peil. She was a 2025 quarterfinalist of the American Traditions Vocal Competition, and an encouragement award winner in the Kentucky District for the Metropolitan National Council Competition in 2020. Victoria is a native of the DC/Maryland area and holds degrees from Shenandoah Conservatory and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a BM in voice performance, an MM in voice performance, and an AD in opera performance.
Victoria is a HUGE classic film fan and you can find her on her Instagram for her song series “Songs From Old Movie Musicals That Are Stuck In My Head.”
